Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-03-17

on Sunday Evening, Feb. 2T-Resolution
and tho Necessity of Living up to Fixed
Standards.
sand he said unto his disciples: There was
certain rich man which bad a servant, and
the same was accused unto him. No
servant can serve two masters, for either he
Will hate tho one and love the other, or else
he win hold to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God aud Mammon."
Text-Luke, xvi, 4, the first clause; II am
resolved what TO do"
Tread in your hearing this narrative, this
parable of our Lord. The unjust steward had
been accused, and rightfully, of betraying
his trust and wasting that committed to him.
His master called him to an account, and he
was satisfied that the end had come, and he
conlmnned with himself and as the result of
that, and loosing over all the circumstances,
he said, II am resolved what to do"
What he resolved to do was not very honest,
but it was very shrewd Heresolved to make
friends of all the debtors of his lord. He
called them up and settled with them in such
way as to lay them under obligations
gratitude TO him. And so, although he and
they cheated the master, he made his own
nest warm and the master praised him-not
Jesus, but the man that owned the property
is the one. When he heard that he said to
himself: "Well. that is shrewd that is cum
ming; that is WISE" and the comment on it is:
Children of this world are wiser than the
children Of light; that is to say, men who are
acting i'll worldly reasons, for worldly reasons,
are very much wiser than the men becoming
good from the highest moral considerations.
But that that they have selected is simply
this: Il am resolved what to DO"
What, then, is the nature Of a resolution
what is the scope of it, the potency? And what
are the drawbacks? The decentralization of
these questions may throw light upon the path OF
many of us. Now, our long effort of making up
our mind is equivalent to forming q purpose.
When man resolves he means, or should mean,
to do something; and all resolutions carry, or
should carry, not simply the end sought, but also
the capable and necessary means by which the
end Is sought. am resolved to cross that river,
by the bridge, by boat or by swimming. To
stand on one side and to resolve TO be on the
other, without any intermediate means of doing
it, would be folly indeed. am resolved to-mor-
row to go to market All the intermediate and
implied steps by which that resolution could be
carried out are included in the resolution itself.
A resolution is a purpose in SO far as simple
things, uncompounded, incomplete, are con-
! cerned. resolution may be executed immedi-
ately, without loss of time indeed, the greatest
number of resolutions are those which, like the
stroke of the hammer or the explosion of the
gun, are almost without any appreciable inter
lapse of time. 81 am resolved what to do"
Natural resolutions: At the cry of fire the man
instantly looks out to what to do; at the call
of man to step to the door and see O stranger or
friend; he resolves to do it; although the reso-
luton is latent in such sense by repetition he is
not conscious of making up his mind.
In regard to a great many of the acts of
So hiatt
of the brain-has become so common that 1t takes
place without any appreciable appearance of tax
ing place. A multitude of things-if one gets in
q crowd, and man would strike him. his defense
is not the result Of reflection, and yet it was in
him as a result of experience to protect himself
and, If it be a shadow, it is just the same, for
shadow seems like substance, and he puts him
self in ludicrous attitude Of defense; he smiles,
and he goes on, but the action of the mind, the
unconscious cerebration. rs there.
As, for instance, in things that apply to the
now, that are incorporated and simple, man
resolves and executes almost at the same mo-.
ment The child calls from above Father
and incidentally there is no thought whether he
shall or shall not answer, yet the train goes on
without him and he replies, my son, what?" Or
the call has come to him for help, and he in
stantly before the last echo of the sound dies out
Of his ear, is his feet, on his way. But these
ere very simple things they are the primary
4
more complicated, running through longer
periods of time, imply great many intermediate
steps. For a man can resolve that he will go to
bed-it doesn't take long, either-he resolves that
tomorrow morning he will get up and go "crlis
ing" but tomorrow is dark and stormy, and the
resolution is not half strong when he wakes up
/ as It was when he went to bed There are great
many considerations that come. Or the man re-
solves that tomorrow he will go to market;
neighbors come in; he waits; It Is noon, and then
time Is too little to 60. "And come again" And
he puts IL Off until the next morning. So between
the resolution and the nght-for one takes hold
upon the other-there is a delay and the interme-
date history.
Now, as you 60 on in life, as society itself be-
comes more complex--cfviiization is growth In
complexity-as the things that you resolve TO do
or not to do are largely in their times and are
clustered together by cause and effect, resolu-
tions spreading over SO long spaces and so much
intermediatism is somewhat different from the
first resolve
Resolution, then, means purpose, the will it.
self; and it includes in It. also, oil indispensable
intermediate steps; and some resolutions execute
themselves Immediately; some with some delay;
some with long delay; some, through many subor-
dinate resolutions, that carry out the primary
one. And q man may resolve at q critical mo-
ment that which win determine the whole charac-
ter of his life; yea, he may determine in any one
single, final moment that which viii take the
whole Of his life to carry into effect. This is the
case of ten thousand men, When my father was
young, lad Che was brought up by, substantially,
uncle), he had in him all that was necessary TO
make him what he was in his professional life.
But he didn't do It.; he was careless; he was heed
less; he was forgetful of things external; and so
Uncle Lot Benton one morning, going out, found
that being out late with the horses the night be-
fore visiting some young company, the bride was
placed over the water trough and the saddle was
thrown down behind the stable door, and the
horses turned in without halter, and he said,
"Oh, well, Lyman will never make farmer; he
is not fitted for it." And talking In the orchard
with him one day, he says: Lyman, how would
you like TO go to college!" No answer. They
went on working all day. Next day, about the
same hour, as they were working together in the
orchard. Lyman says: II would like to go, SIR"
That settled it. In that beginning was purpose
that shaped differently his whole life; it never
gave out; it branched in every direction; he
made what be was; that was owing TO the part
ing; by not, be would have been miserable far
mer; he made tolerably good minister and
tolerably good father.
So, then, man may form resolution without
noise, without parade, but that with infinite Sc
quences in its development. II may include in
itself short process and an intermediate; it may
include in itself long process; 1t may include in
itself the whole scope of mans life, and thrice
ten thousand resolutions will be formed success
lively to carry out the great primary resolution
which man makes
The general qualities Of the resolutions which
men make are of every grade; even frail woman,
walking in the boisterous March wind, may find
that with oil the sail she carries she cannot make
Roadway against it, and supports herself by
fence that is stiff enough to hold her until the
wind lulls. And as it is in the community so 1t Is
in regard TO Northumberland are mauy perzons
who, left 10 themselves, waver; they do so some
times from good reasons, sometimes from those
not so good, sometimes because the purposes
were formed in moment Of excitement and have
nothing left of them when the excitement coos.
There is instability also arising from disability Of
organization; that is to say, man may be sus.
ceptible while one class Of effects is being pro-
duced, and in that mood he may form resolu-
ton, but tomorrow some other blessed, beautiful
thing may come up, and he is just as susceptible
Of that, and the secondary state Of mind oblit
crAtes the first. man is under the influence OF
uasic, and all his purposes run under that power
influence but, by and by, the outbreak Of pol
itics brings up patriotism, as it Is called, and his
moods change and those early sensations at first
are no longer operative upon him; another pow
erful influeucq cquees diCrpSsiOu There aro